{"id":1503,"date":"2024-12-06T10:01:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T15:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/religion\/?p=1503"},"modified":"2024-12-06T10:01:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T15:01:42","slug":"mellon-foundation-awards-montclair-1m-to-expand-native-american-and-indigenous-studies-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/religion\/2024\/12\/06\/mellon-foundation-awards-montclair-1m-to-expand-native-american-and-indigenous-studies-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Mellon Foundation Awards Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ $1M to Expand Native American and Indigenous Studies Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Native American and Indigenous Studies<\/a> (NAIS) program of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u2019s College of Humanities and Social Sciences<\/a> has been awarded a three-year, $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation<\/a> to create a new center, the New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice (NJCIJ), and to expand its programing.<\/p>\n

With its commitment to Indigenous rights, racial justice, decolonization and eco-justice, the NAIS program emphasizes the priorities of New Jersey\u2019s state-recognized Native American tribes \u2013 the Ramapough Lunaape, Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape and Powhatan Renape nations \u2013 which include environmental justice, political recognition, cultural heritage and language revitalization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The NJCIJ will be a center for communication, fundraising, events and gatherings that highlight the unique questions facing Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u2019s Indigenous students and New Jersey\u2019s tribal communities. It will coordinate the University\u2019s work to change public narratives, increase Indigenous student enrollment and pursue justice-oriented action on issues affecting Native people in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NJCIJ will give focus to the varied work Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ faculty and students are doing in partnership with New Jersey\u2019s tribal communities,\u201d says Anthropology Department Chair Chris Matthews<\/a>, a co-director of NAIS and co-Principal Investigator of the grant. \u201c[It] will be the first and only university-based project in New Jersey that aims to transform public understanding of Native people and to do so in partnership with Indigenous communities across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice and NAIS Program Grant<\/h2>\n

In addition to Matthews, the co-Principal Investigators of the grant include Religion Professor Mark Clatterbuck<\/a>, Anthropology Professor Maisa Taha<\/a> and Educational Foundations Professor Lisa Lynn Brooks<\/a>, all fellow co-directors of the Native American and Indigenous Studies program.<\/p>\n

The grant funds will be used to establish the New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice and achieve the following goals:<\/p>\n